Sun In Our Eyes
by loafbread
Summary: Bonnibel is an intern. Marceline is her boss. It was easy understanding their predicament but underneath the simplicity of their work is something sinister that they have both to find out.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Bonnibel sipped her wine slowly as she eyes each one of their guests who were either busy talking to each other or just _there_ , existing in the world.

The ballroom was large and half of it was filled with people in suits and expensive dresses. Bonnibel made sure to wear her most comfortable dress (a slip-on dress, off-shoulder, and silver heels). Her uncle Gumbald approached her, giving her that smile that sometimes tips her off.

" _Princess'n_ ," he called her—Bonnibel thought that he looked smug with the white and pink striped suit that he was wearing. "Why are you here in the corner not socializing?" he asked, enveloping her in a hug, "It is important to establish connections," he pulled back, still smiling.

Bonnibel shrugged impotently, "I'm a bit tired from my last day of internship at the lab," she reasoned. This was half of the truth. She was tired, yes, but parties like these just _drain_ the core out of her.

"Right, I suppose that this is your last day?" he inquired, as if he was making sure. Bonnibel shrugged again. It was unlady-like but she doesn't care. She's not bound for business unlike him and his son.

"Yup," she bobbed her head, sipping the last of her wine in the process. Hoping that her uncle would stop pestering her about her life choices. "Well, have you thought where you'll be doing your business internship?"

She tried so hard to not roll her eyes.

Her uncle and his family had been talking about her internships for the past months way before she started. She was a science major minoring in business, meaning she had to take two internships. 10 months for her science while 6 months in her business. She'd seen nothing wrong at how time consuming it would be but that was the path that she chose. Her parents also wanted her to have at least a diploma in business so that she can handle their company in the near future.

Her uncle was the city mayor and is investing in some businesses; she let him hold the core branch of their company while she drowned herself in scientific studies. She promised her parents to let her pursue her dreams to contribute _stuff_ in the name of science first before handling their business. They agreed on it in which she felt proud for but these days the business has been well but it has come to her attention that her uncle was power-hungry. He'd been asking her to intern at Nightosphere Group of Companies so that she could establish a connection there. Since, Hunson, the CEO, is keen on hardworking individuals and this could be their shot at getting known by the technology mogul.

She also heard that Hunson and her uncle had frequent meetings. She decided not to pry on it. It was for the better.

The pink haired beauty smiled politely at her uncle, "No worries about that," she answered, "I already sent my resume to the lab where I was working hoping that they'd accept me as their business associate."

Her uncle's face contorted. She couldn't tell what impression he was making but his face became dull. "I see," he smiled again. _Creepy_. Bonnibel distanced herself a little, "If that's the case then can you at least meet Mr. Hunson Abadeer? We were lucky that he's attending. I wanted him to meet my family."

Bonnibel wanted to decline. She knew she disappointed her uncle but it didn't matter to her. Even though he and her father were twins, she could sometimes see her father in him. She sighed inaudibly. "Very well then," she agreed. At least he wouldn't bother her anymore regarding the internship.

She followed her uncle outside the ballroom and inside the study room of his. Her cousin, Lucas and his mother, Lolita were already outside waiting for them.

"Is he inside?" he asked them, her aunt Lolly nodded, "Yes, he just got in." Her uncle nodded and Lucas opened the door where they saw a man staring out of the window, his back facing the door.

"Mr. Adadeer," his uncle called. Mr. Abadeer turned to see them and smiled like a Cleshire grin.

Hunson was tall, dark haired man whose pale complexion could be the same of her dress. He was in one of their private chambers (the party was held in their manor) he was alone. A cup of drink in his hand. Gumbald immediately walked towards him and offered him a handshake. It was all dreary as if the alcohol that Bonnibel was taking is finally taking up its effect on her.

"This is my niece, Bonnibel," her uncle introduced her. Hunson offered his hand at her and when she shook it—everything went _black_.

-x-x-x-

Bonnibel doesn't know how she ended up working as an intern in Nightosphere Group. She woke up the next morning with a copy of contract on her bedside that she legibly signed stating that she will be an intern and will be working in the Accounting Department as a co-assistant to a particular Miss Lady Hwang.

She was sure of it that she doesn't want to work there but it just happened. All of the sudden she wanted to work and signed the contract that was being offered to her by the CEO himself.

She arrived at the 50th floor. Greeted by a white walled room, two tables were placed side by side with at least a distance of 5 meters from each other and another door leading to another office.

The other table doesn't have any things on it except for a CPU, computer, and couple of boxes on the side. The table that was a couple of meters away from the empty table have things on it. Same as the empty one but a couple of more personal stuff like family pictures, etc.

"Oh," a blonde Asian emerged from a room (she hasn't seen that) but she thought that it was the comfort room. Smiling at her, "You must be Bonnibel?" she asked.

The pink haired beauty nodded, "I am, and you are Ms. Lady Hwang?" the woman beamed, ushering her to the empty seat.

"Yes, welcome to the party," she laughed, helping her set her things. (She was only carrying a box full of her personal stuff) "It seems that the boss hasn't arrived. She greatly appreciates punctuality in most things, keep it up!"

Bonnibel nodded in understanding. Happy that her co-worker is a nice person. "So, may I know the outlines of my job as your assistant?"

Lady leaned on her table casually, wrinkling her white and blue striped dress, "We're not that busy since it's still the start of the month. Miss Marceline usually arrives on time and she brings her own coffee so no need to buy one for her. Your job would just revolve around helping me get through stuff like double-checking the quarterly reports, sorting her schedule, sometimes, I follow her outside the office to some events and stuff. And oh, there are times that she requests that her workload be delivered to her home and I do that most of the time." She bubbly explained, "Miss Marceline is cool and laid-back but she's very short-tempered especially with the monthly visits with her dad so you should be starting to extend your patience because there are tendencies that she'll get mad at every little thing."

Bonnibel scratched her cheek at how problematic it sounded but made no protest as Lady continued, "Overall, no need to worry about stuff. She's just intimidating but she's nice. You'll just have to endure that thick shell of hers before she softens up. I'm also here for you." Lady's hand landed on Bonnibel's shoulder, "You are my assistant anyways, I'll try not to burden you, alright?"

The pink haired beauty beamed, "Thank you so much, Ms. Hwang!" the blonde immediately pulled back, making an X sign with her fingers, "No, just call me Lady."

"Alright then, thank you, again, Lady. I'll promise to be a good assistant to you."

Lady walked towards her own table and crossed her leg over the other, opening a folder which Bonnibel knew that contained her file. "I've read yours and I was flabbergasted how great you were in terms of academes, I am pretty sure that Ms. Marceline would be impressed."

Bonnibel blushed, "It's not that much but I try my best," she said shyly as she made a way to her seat when the elevator opened revealing a dark haired woman clad in a white button up, first few buttons were unbuttoned, a grey coat was draped on her shoulders hanging loosely, grey slacks, and black boat shoes. She stopped in the middle of the two tables. Lady immediately sat up and Bonnibel stood straight at the woman before her.

Her pale emerald eyes landed at her briefly before landing on Lady's, "Email me my sched for today," she said briefly before looking at Bonnibel who swore that her heart skipped a beat at the sudden nervousness. "You," she called, "Follow me into my office, now." She strutted towards the brown door and ducked inside.

Lady then without sparing a second booted her computer up and said. "Go, she values obedience than punctuality!"

-z-z-z-

Marceline's coat was draped on the sofa in her office. The intern followed her into her room which revealed a two glass windows giving her the perfect view of the neighbouring skyscrapers, the bridge that connects Ooo and Candy Heights, and the busy Market booming with people of all ages, in the middle was a black leather L-shaped sofa with a rectangular table in the middle, and in front was an another couch which was shorter than the L-shaped couch.

Perched up on the other side of the wall were paintings from the renaissance era with a grandfather clock on the side. She looked at the main table where her boss' things were, a mahogany table, a couple of bookstands behind her and what caught her attention was an axe-shaped bass perched up on the middle of the wall.

Marceline cleared her throat and Bonnibel jumped a little in shock.

"You must be Bonnibel Bubblegum," she was still standing, holding a white folder in hand, "My dad was indeed correct," she mumbled as she flipped another page, "You're amazing," she sat on her leather seat and laid her emerald orbs on Bonnibel's cerulean eyes.

"If you don't mind me asking, how did you met my father?" the raven haired woman's voice was husky yet smooth. If it were the ocean she would've drowned already.

Bonnibel flinched at the air of mystery surrounding her boss. She was intimidating, alright- but there's this _something_ in her that she couldn't point out. "My uncle invited him to one of our parties and we were introduced." She curtly replied and her boss relaxed on her seat, "I see." She nodded her head in understanding.

"Have Ms. Lady told you of the workload and such?"

Bonnibel blinked. "She did. Not everything yet but she told me most of the superficial things," her boss' eyes landed on her briefly before settling her emerald orbs back on her papers. "Right, because after this day, you will be taking most of her workloads."

"I beg your pardon?" she asked. She was surprised. How can an intern like her is expected to work like a regular working employee?

"Lady will be on maternity leave. I know that you aren't expecting this to happen especially when you're still an intern but you will be paid the same like Lady and you will be accredited to whatever effort that you put in to this."

Bonnibel frowned, "I'm sorry, but it would be unfair on my part." Her boss' eyebrows were raised, "I'm sorry," Marceline retorted, imitating her tone, "but I was told by my father that this was a part of your contract," she paused as she retrieved another file, skimmed some parts and gave it to Bonnibel who stepped forward to receive the paper.

 _ix) I, Bonnibel Bubblegum, will be working full-time and is sworn to pledge my loyalty to Nightosphere Group of Companies-_

She didn't finish reading it all as she gave the paper back to her boss who was looking at her in an unreadable expression.

"Very well then, I will try my best to be of service." She stated, swearing that she will have a run-through with the contract and talk to her cousin (who is a lawyer) about it. For now, she will have to let things be.

"Also," her boss looked bored, Bonnibel noted. "I haven't spoken to Lady yet about her leave. I will leave it up to your jurisdiction if you'll tell her or not." She paused, eyeing her the last time. "You may go."

-z-z-z-

A lot of things were running inside Bonnibel's mind, a lot of questions had yet to be asked but if she would ask them then Lady would have to know about her _leave_ in which would be a risky thing to do. She furrowed her eyebrows, "Is this a test?" she mumbled to herself as she placed her corkboard on the wall on her left and glanced at Lady who was busy typing on her computer.

"Should I do something?" she asked her. Lady bobbed her head, "I was waiting for you to be done, I'll send you the files and you'll sort them out based on the instructions given. Also, the last file will be Ms. Marceline's schedule for the whole week."

Bonnibel grinned, _Ah, finally some work!_ She opened her computer and immediately received a file containing three documents. She did what she was told and the morning flew so quickly.

Within the span of 6 hours, she'd learn from Lady (they had lunch) that she was a Korean immigrant. She and Marceline met when they were in high school but never had a single interaction, she was quite shocked when Marceline took her in office and decided to hire her. She's been working ever since for 3 years under her care. Marceline was different back in high school, she used to be a rebel and Lady was not expecting that Marceline would be in the corporate world. Bonnibel kept that in thought.

She also said that Marceline eats only inside the office, stuffing herself with a cup of ramen every now and then. " _How unhealthy,"_ Bonnibel remarked in which Lady just shrugged, " _I decided to bring her homemade lunch one time. She was thankful but asked me to never bring it again or else I'll be fired."_ She has a temper based on what Lady had told her and asked her nicely to just follow whatever that she said. She was also told that Marceline isn't impulsive, " _she's gonna tell you the things that she wants to be done beforehand."_

She doesn't date but there are rumours circulating around the building that she's engaged. Lady never heard of Marceline dating which Bonnibel found weird since she wouldn't deny the fact that she find her attractive. She just shrugged that info off, it's not her business to pry on her boss' lovelife.

Bonnibel was on her table finishing the last columns in her excel when Marceline emerged from her office. She stopped in front of them, "Are you guys done for tonight?" she asked. Lady blinked, taking her eyeglasses off and glanced at Bonnibel, waiting for her to answer. It didn't take long for her to respond.

"I'm done, just double-checking," she spoke, looking at the blonde who beamed at her. "I guess we're finished for today, we'll just have to pack our things."

Marceline clicked her tongue, bobbing her head in the process. "I'll wait for you guys then, since we have a new employee," she eyed Bonnibel, "It's just right of me to treat you guys to dinner to commemorate our new member," smiling kindly at Bonnibel who ducked her head low in embarrassment. The blonde lady giggled, "We'd be honoured to," Bonnibel doesn't know how it sounded like but to her it was _suggestive._ She can feel Marceline shifting from where she was standing before saying, "I'll be in my office." With that she walked the same path where she came out and back to her office.

The lights in her office were still out but she didn't mind that when Lady called Bonnibel. "Let's start packing, I'm starving!"

-z-z-z-

They were in a Korean Chicken and Beer restaurant which was just next to their building. Lady was the one who recommended it since she was _craving_ and Marceline decided to go for it.

Two plates containing different flavors of chicken were delivered to their table together with three glasses of beer.

"Oh goodie," Marceline remarked as she grinned. "I didn't know that we'd be drinking," she took a piece of chicken and smiled when she tasted it, "This is nice,"

Lady was about to drink her fill of beer when Bonnibel put her to a stop, "Ah, Lady," she called out her co-worker who was already playing with the rims of her glass, "You shouldn't be drinking that."

The blonde blinked, "Why?" eyeing Bonnibel weirdly now, "How—did you?" her eyebrows were furrowed. She clearly hasn't told her about her pregnancy. Bonnibel fidgeted in her seat, she was about to tell her that she knew when she glanced one time when she was reading a message from _Jake_ to be careful because she's pregnant and all but the raven haired woman who was seated across from them beat her to it. "Miss Lady," Marceline called for her attention. "I'm giving you your maternal leave starting tomorrow."

Bonnibel immediately craned her neck towards Marceline who relaxed on her seat, eating another piece of chicken, "Jake emailed me the other day asking for an advanced leave. He said that you were burdened to ask for it. I still couldn't agree to it since I can't work alone even though he offered to replace you," Marceline snorted and Lady giggled, "I'm sorry if I was just able to agree to it until today. But now that we have Ms. Bonnibel to fill in for you, I guess it's safe to say that you can go and rest."

The pink haired beauty smiled at how _kind_ Marceline was. She thought that she was arrogant and strict but she was the complete opposite of what she was expecting her boss would be. The blonde bobbed her head, "Thank you, Ms. Marceline. I owe you."

Marceline tilted her head, "You owe me nothing, Ms. Lady," she sipped on her beer, "Just rest and return after your birth." She then eyed Bonnibel who gulped her beer faster, "Based on your records, I'll be expecting a refined work ethic coming from you, Ms. Bubblegum."

"I'll try not to fail you, Ms. Abadeer."

Marceline smirked, "That's good then,"

-z-z-z-

"Thanks, Marcy for granting my request," a blonde buff man shook Marceline's hand, the raven haired woman just shrugged it off, "No problem," she smiled. Showing off her professional façade as the blonde man, known as Jake, took Lady's hand on his own. "Are you sure that you're not gonna ride with us?" Lady asked, Bonnibel waved both of her hands dismissively, "No, I can always take a taxi from here."

Marceline stood there awkwardly. When Bonnibel denied their offer one last time, Lady cleared her throat. Eyeing Marceline as the raven haired woman tilted her head, "It's just dangerous for you to take a taxi home at a time like this especially when you had a glass or two," Lady's pitch went a little higher and Marceline felt that it was not directed to the pink haired woman who was standing next to her.

"It's okay, really, I can take care of myself, you shouldn't be thinking of me." Bonnibel shook her head as she patted Lady's shoulder. Jake nodded in their way as they started walking away from them. Marceline hugged her coat closer towards her body and sighed. "Let's get you home then,"

Bonnibel's eyes widened, she was ready to turn the offer of her boss' down when Marceline eyed her, glaring at her in the process, "Don't turn this offer down. Miss Lady is right; I can't just let you take a taxi at this rate."

The pink haired woman was about to protest but Marceline walked first towards Nighto's building where the basement parking was. She couldn't say no now, especially when her boss was the one who was offering the ride home.

They walked together in silence with Bonnibel following Marceline, until they stopped to a red Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive; Bonnibel knew what the car is like since her cousin was also a fan of bad boys like these.

Marceline unlocked the door and ducked inside the car which Bonnibel followed suit. She quickly put on the seatbelt and the engine roared. The raven haired woman silently drove the car out of the building and into the drive-way.

"Where do you live?" she asked her, breaking the silence as Bonnibel tried to relax on the seat, "Candytuft Heights," Marceline hummed as a response. It looked like she knew of her upbringing but didn't decide to comment about it which made her glad because it would be uncomfortable if she started treating her like royalty just because of it.

"If it makes you confused as on why I decided to grant Miss Lady's leave in advance—it's because I've known her since high school—her husband, Jake, was a friend of mine. We used to be in a band." She stated, eyes never leaving the road, "If you find it unethical then I couldn't blame you."

Bonnibel shook her head, "I don't find any malice of it at all," she paused to lean back on her seat, she realized that she's been staring at her for too long, "You waited for a replacement before you grant that so I don't see anything wrong. I appreciate the kindness that you're showing your friends, Miss Abadeer."

She glanced at Marceline and noticed how her cheeks warmed, she awkwardly cleared her throat. Bonnibel couldn't help but smile how cute her boss looked.

"May I ask a personal question?" they stopped on a red light and Bonnibel tilted her head, "What is it?"  
Marceline leaned back on her seat, looking at her, "How did my father convince you to work for the company? Or is it really in your convenience that you wanted to work for us?" She paused to drive again when the light turned green, "It's just-you are a science prodigy and you've spent your first internship at a lab, it's just reasonable enough for you to work there as an associate or something for your business diploma, so—why us?"

Bonnibel sighed. The car stopped just outside her place but she wouldn't leave before giving her an answer. She doesn't know why her boss was curious on her working there but it's also a mystery to her why she agreed to it. Her mind was set on working at the lab but after that one encounter with the CEO, her mind was now set to work in his company. She also finds it weird. She wished that she could tell Marceline though.

"My uncle told me that it would be good on my record, I also was against it but your father was just so good in speaking me out of it that I said yes. It's an opportunity that I couldn't say no to."

Marceline placed her hand on the console, leaning in to examine the pink head's eyes for something. Bonnibel was too nervous to move even though their faces were only half a meter apart. Her boss' eyebrows were furrowed, as if she was searching for something inside her orbs. They stayed like that for less than a minute as silence fell among them.

Marceline pulled away, scratching the back of her neck. "I see, thank you for answering that question. In return you may ask me one personal question." She smiled, as if nothing happened. Bonnibel's active mind was quick to formulate questions but she couldn't choose one.

"I'll give you until tomorrow. I will be waiting." This time, Marceline smirked and Bonnibel couldn't forget that smirk ever since then.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II**

It has been two weeks since she started working. Lady never forgets to call her every once and then to check up on her and her workload. She was glad of it though, Lady somehow helped her in clearing her mind and as for the personal question—she later on regretted it.

 _2 weeks ago._

" _Miss Bonnibel," Marceline stopped in front of her. Bonnibel blinked. Licking her lips in nervousness as the finger of her boss twirled on her table making eccentric circles._

" _Are you ready to ask me your question?" Bonnibel just noticed the faint scar on Marceline's left brow. She wanted to ask where'd she get that but her mouth uttered the other thing. "How old are you?"_

 _Marceline took a step back, eyes widening before settling down back to its normal gaze, smirking in the process, "I'm appalled." She mocked shock by putting a hand on her chest, as if she was heaving her breath, "but to answer your question, I'm 25 years old."_

 _This time, it was Bonnibel's turn to be appalled. "But Lady told me that you went to the same classes together.." it wasn't a question but more of an accusation.. of what? Marceline laughed. "I took some advanced classes. Mostly Mathematics probably why I got assigned here." She shrugged, looking laid-back than her professional façade, "Anyways, your question did entertain me for a good while." Bonnibel sat there in silence. Entertaining?_

 _The raven haired woman smirked, "I should get going, do email me my sched for today and the papers that needs to be signed. I sent you a file that needs to be printed. I need seven copies of those." With one final and first tap of her index finger on the table, Marceline strutted back to her office and Bonnibel did as what she was told._

 _The reason that she asked the question was because in the file that was sent to her by Lady that contained Marceline's info—all that she got from her birth section was the date but no year. Her curiosity even peaked when Lady told her that she doesn't know. Marceline was able to graduate first but there were some terms that she was taking up classes in the lower and upper years. Lady and her husband couldn't tell exactly from what grade she was at that time. Last thing they heard, Marceline graduated a year ahead of them._

 _ **2 weeks after**_

Bonnibel was bored. Her job was done for today because her boss was on a day-off, meaning her job was also cut off. She still had to report though to send the necessary attachments and files to the main system which is only booted by _Nightos_ Computers themselves.

She was about to shut her computer off when her telephone rang. She quickly answered it in monotone as what Lady had told her.

" _Miss Marceline Abadeer's office, how may I help you?"_ she asked, the other line was quick to respond, _"I am Vanessa from the office of the president and I would like to do a follow-up regarding the ledgers sent today?"_

Bonnibel eyed the thick and monochrome ledgers that she received the same morning. _"We have received those but Miss Abadeer would not able to sign it for today because it is her day-off."_

There was a shuffle on the other line. _"Kindly tell Miss Abadeer that we need it done ASAP. The president pressed that it should be done today, thank you."_ And the other line hung up.

Bonnibel groaned in annoyance. She wanted to call them back and give them a piece of their mind about the definition of day-off but she couldn't. _It_ was from the main office. And for them to call and need it by ASAP is something that shouldn't just be ignored. She sighed and gave up, taking her phone on the table and dialling Marceline's number. She called several times but no one would answer.

She called Lady and asked for an advice.

Lady told her to go to Marceline's place. She also warned her that if the president wants it now, it should be _n-o-w_. And Marceline would lose her _shit_ if won't be informed.

Panicked and stricken, Bonnibel immediately stands up, takes her things, placed the ledgers on her tote bag and drove towards _Nightosphere Twin Towers._

-zxz0

She arrived in front of the only room in the floor. She blinked. She stopped in front of the black door and knocked.

The doorknob has some sort of a digital keypad that acts as a key to open it. She face-palmed when she saw the doorbell and pressed it several times.

The door opened revealing Marceline only clad in a black silky bathrobe, leaning on her doorframe as she did so.

"Miss Bonnibel, how may I help you? Something urgent, I suppose." She commented at her presence, crossing her arms. Bonnibel cleared her throat, nodding at her boss. "Yes," she paused to pat her tote bag, "The main branch called and wanted these ledgers signed by today. I told them that today's your off but they told me that they need it ASAP."

The raven haired woman's eyebrows furrowed, "Come in," she leaned out and Bonnibel did as what she was told. Her place was surprisingly big even though she lives alone (Lady told her that) white creamed walls, some plants on the side of the wall. A black couch, small rectangular table in front of it and a flat screen TV. There was a big window that occupied half of the room which was covered by a red velvet curtain. She saw Marceline pick up a remote and the curtains moved to uncover the window revealing a stunning view of the city.

"Please take a seat, I'll go and get changed." Her boss told her. Bonnibel noticed that her hair is still damp. She sat on the couch and waited. She took out her phone and she received a text from her cousin, Fredrick whom she asked about contracts and labour laws.

 _From Gumball von Beckher: Bubs, I looked into your file and saw nothing wrong with it. But if you were forced to sign or if you were drugged at that time then the contract can be nulled. So long as you provide evidence._

She furrowed her eyebrows. It's been over two weeks since the party happened and she couldn't provide evidence that her drink was rigged since she was the one who took her drink from the punch.

 _To Gumball von Beckher: I'll look into it. Thanks, G._

Bonnibel placed her phone back in her bag when Marceline emerged from a red painted door. She blinked. It was weird seeing her boss in casual attire. (White tee, red plaid shirt, denim jeans that's been folded above her ankles, and black sneakers) her hair's still damp but it looked drier than before. Marceline settled next to Bubblegum with a respectable distance between them.

"May I see those ledgers?" she asked, resting her arm on the sofa as she crossed her leg. Bonnibel nodded, reaching out to her bag which was on the floor. Three thick ledgers were taken from her tote and gave them to Marceline whose eyebrows were meeting halfway, "You—you carried those?"  
She received the ledgers and grunted at how heavy it felt.

"Uh," she awkwardly smiled, "Yeah, I used to do weightlifting in high school so I guess it just stuck."

The raven haired woman stared at her for a moment before clearing her throat. She laid the ledger on her lap and opened it, skimming each pages, eyes darting back and forth to read any mistakes. "This is the first time that they asked for something so urgent," she started as she took out a pen from the table and signed a page before handing it back to Bonnibel, "I wonder why. Did they say something other than signing these?"

Bonnibel tapped one of the ledgers which were now on her lap, "No. They just told me that they need it ASAP. They told me that the president was the one who pressed to submit it today."

Marceline opened another ledger in silence. Humming in response as she signed and did the same to the last one. "Have you eaten?" she asked. Bonnibel bit her lip. She hasn't.

"I haven't, I was planning to eat after I submit these," she placed the ledgers back on her tote bag and Marceline's eyes were drifting around the room before landing into hers, "Wanna grab some food then? I'm meeting up with a friend later on but same as you," she smiled but a little, "I haven't eaten."

Bonnibel felt weird. Well, it was normal for bosses and employees to eat out just like what happened in the lab. "Where do you want to eat then?"

"Hm, do you have anything in mind?"

Bonnibel's eyes lit, "I'm thinking of eating some lamb and mutton in Ramsay's," she muttered out loud. "Oh, and some pork and rillettes hand pies" she gasped at the realization and blushed. She quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment. She couldn't help it though, she haven't had any breakfast because she slept late at night to finish her research.

Marceline laughed, shaking her head in the process. The raven haired woman scratched her ear, looking at her with sparkling eyes as if she was a birthday cake on a 5 year old kid's birthday. "You're quite a spoiled kid, aren't you?" she raised her left brow, still grinning at her.

Bonnibel looked at her boss incredulously ( _the nerve of this woman!)_ she was warned from the beginning about her boss' _distasteful_ mouth by Lady from the very beginning though. She steeled herself, shrugging as she did so, "I am. I was kept in a pretty _conservative_ environment." She told Marceline whose smile was gone but her eyes were still wide as if she was trying to understand something about her.

"I see, well, how about I surprise you then?" the grin was back and Bonnibel felt oddly weird. She knew something is up judging from her boss' sudden enthusiastic attitude. "Surprise me of what?"

Marceline relaxed on her seat, "You're too uptight," another _hit_. Bonnibel tried not to grimace or flinch, "You need to loosen up," she remarked as she practically jumped from her seat, "And you will actually have to come with me on this one. You'll be meeting my friends so that when they decide to show up at my office which they do at times," she paused to offer her hand, "what you will do when they do that is to kick them out," Marceline moved her hand up and down, waiting to be received by the pink haired woman who was staring at it the whole time.

"Um," Bonnibel hesitantly placed her hand on Marceline's. The raven haired woman blinked. " _Not_ your hand." She used her free hand to point at the pink tote bag on the ground, "Give me the _damned_ bag!"

Bonnibel wanted to evaporate as her face turned crimson in embarrassment her boss continued laughing until they arrived in the basement parking where Bonnibel's car was.

0-a0a

"Wh-what's this place?"Bonnibel couldn't help but ask. Her boss had somewhat commandeered her car as they drove outside the city just to arrive an hour later in a dingy diner with no one around. She gulped. She looked around and there were no sign of any life form at where they were.

"And where are we?" she added as her bossed shut the engine off and smiled. "They call this place Route 88," she ran a hand to her hair and Bonnibel furrowed her eyebrows, "That place doesn't exist anymore."

"Yet here we are," Marceline pressed, "so this place still exists, let's go out, Princess!" Marceline ducked out from her _Lamborghini Urus_ as Bonnibel panicked. Looking back and forth towards the deserted area before surrendering herself to the mercy of her boss and followed suit towards the diner whose name can't clearly be seen since its old. All she could make out were the letter's _A, L, E_ separated from each other. She stood still outside, there were no customers but the place _at least_ looked clean.

It was a first of her to be in a place like this.

She gasped when Marceline pulled her inside. She lost her balance and fell on her boss' arms who then quickly pulled away. "Don't worry. I'm not a killer. This place is safe." She rolled her eyes when an elderly woman that looked like she was in her mid-50s went out from the kitchen and smiled kindly at them.

"Marceline, glad that you could visit." She ushered them to a booth. Bonnibel didn't move and Marceline had to pull her in with her.

They were both given two menus and Bonnibel was impressed how neat it looked despite the place being so dingy.

"I'll give you two some time to decide," she winked at Marceline who groaned before sighing. "I know that you're uncomfortable since we're in a deserted place and no one is here except for us." She started before closing her eyes, as if she was calming herself.

Bonnibel forgot about her boss' temper and regretted it afterwards, "And I know that this place isn't the likes of you since you were cultured in a _conservative_ environment" she added air quotations, "but this place is different. I know who these people are and what they've been through," she narrowed her eyes at her and Bonnibel shrunk down in embarrassment.

She swore that Marceline wanted to say something more but kept her mouth shut. "I just brought you here so that if I want some deliciously baked apple pies then you will know where to get them."

Bonnibel cleared her throat, "I'm sorry," even though the last sentence of her boss was out of the blue, she paid it no mind. "You are indeed correct; it was out of my bounds to act like a spoiled brat. I'll try not to act like one in the future, Miss Marceline." What she said was the truth. She felt guilt about what she did and to think about it, her boss might have brought her here so that she'll know that there are other places than her _5 star restaurants_ and the luxury of _gold and silver_ that she was fed in.

Marceline's gaze softened, "No, I didn't mean it like that." She rubbed her cheek, a gesture Bonnibel observed that she would do whenever she's embarrassed or caught off-guard. "It's just—as your boss I want you to learn something from me," she looked away, blushing crimson, "I know that you're smart and might know every little thing that are in the books but there are other things that you should know other than that.. I suppose."

The pink haired woman relaxed on her seat, smiling kindred at her boss. She must admit, her boss is cute especially when she's like this. She gets it now why Lady told her the other day about her boss being unconsciously sweet outside the office. Marceline may look fierce but she has a soft spot for people and may show it without her noticing.

"I understand," she giggled, "I'm still sorry though for acting like that." She smiled at her boss whose eyes lit up. "It's okay—as my assistant you must have felt weird that I brought you here, especially when we're in a professional relationship and all," she shrugged, "but I would like you to know that I would like to establish a friendship with you," this time, it was Bonnibel's turn to blush.

"I may not say this to Lady but over the time that we've worked together we have established a sort of professional and a friendship kind of relation—I would also love to have that with you." Marceline said as she stared at Bonnibel. Bonnibel in return blushed crimson. Her boss has ways to shut her active mind most of the time and this scenario was one of those. She quickly bobbed her head, "I—want to have the same thing, too." She responded, "I would love that."

"Well," Marceline clasped her hands. Menu in hand was now forgotten as she laid it on the table, "Should I order for you then?"

The ride back home was awkward but bearable unlike the ride before that. The ride before the diner was _weird_ and Marceline didn't turn the radio on making it silent. Bonnibel succumbed to that though; she kept playing on her phone, reading some online pdfs about related literatures on her research even though her eyes were _now_ strained. The ride after the diner was silent still but they were now accompanied with music—music that sounded so foreign to Bonnibel in contrast to her classical music which she was accustomed to.

She was asked if she knew some of them and she told her yes, she have heard but not fond of it since she isn't into any pop music. She told her about her love for classical music and Marceline was happy to talk about it. She told her that she played classical music mostly on the piano and cello but later on switched into pop and rock since she was _more like_ it. She also supplied her knowledge about other classical musicians that she does not know of.

Marceline parked the car on a curb in a coffee shop of the city's busiest district, _Smokey Hills_. "Thanks for today. I hope you learned something," she put the car on park and smiled. Bonnibel tilted her head, "I thought that I'd be meeting your friends."

"Ah," Marceline licked her lower lip, "You can meet them but in discretion." Her eyes narrowed, "It's just my friends are _way_ more worse than me and they're very—uh," she paused to find the right words, "rowdy, yes," the raven haired woman nodded as if she was agreeing with herself, "so you can follow me inside. But that's if you want to, I've dragged you enough for this day." She laughed, "Anyways, I better get going." She smiled one last time before going out of Bonnibel's car and ducked inside the coffee shop.

Bonnibel was still seated in the passenger seat. She checked her phone and found one text from her colleague in the lab nicknamed _Lumpy_ telling her that she had a gossip that was too juicy for her to text and asked to meet her in person. The pink haired woman was bored, what else could she do? She smiled to herself. _This is perfect. I could kill two birds with one stone on this one._

Well, that's what she thought but when Lumpy and her went inside. Lumpy immediately ran to the table where her boss was because she was friends with one of Marceline's friends—meaning they had to share tables. Bonnibel added it to her pile of regrets that day.

"Oh my god, it's been so long since we've talked," Lumpy playfully smacked the shoulder of an afro-haired woman who grinned, "LSP! It's been so long!" she greeted, beaming at the woman who smiled smugly. "I know right, I've been like, busy in the lab," she responded. Her eyes lit up when she saw Bonnibel standing awkwardly on the side; she pulled her beside her and introduced her to the two. "This is my friend, Bonnibel," she started, "We used to work in the lab." Lumpy then eyed Bonnibel, "This is Keila, and we used to share a class together in college."

Keila waved at her, smiling nicely. "And this is my friend, Marceline, we're band mates." Lumpy smiled wide. "Oh, nice to meet you!" Lumpy eagerly responded. Marceline who remained silent on the side replied, "Same thing," not meeting Lumpy's overly-enthusiastic mood.

Keila noticed Marceline being annoyed at the nosy purple haired woman and smiled awkwardly. Bonnibel also knew of the tension and sighed, "We better take our orders, LSP," she gently nudged her friend whose eyes sparkled, "Right! I'll order your drink for you, Bon-bon, you sit here," she pushed Bonnibel to sit right next to Marceline (since Marceline and Keila were sitting across from each other) with that, LSP left.

The pink haired woman sighed. _So much for being discreet._ She fiddled with the hem of her velvet hoodie, "Sorry for disturbing you both." She started when the duo fell silent, "We'll just move to the next table." She was about to stand up but Keila stopped her midway, "How is it working for Marceline?"

Marceline's eyes widened. "Kei?" she glanced at Bonnibel who remained halfway standing, "I didn't tell you that.."

Bonnibel's eyes darted between her boss and Keila's who chuckled, "You don't have to, Marce," she rolled her eyes as she motioned for Bonnibel to sit down, "I've known since she started working for you. You might not know but I have eyes everywhere."

Marceline drank her cup of coffee, "You're right on that one," she looked up and saw Lumpy was still on the queue, "Your friend's very—energetic," the raven haired woman remarked and Bonnibel bobbed her head. "Uh, we were supposed to meet here and talk about stuff.. I didn't know that she was friends with your friend," she explained.

Keila smirked, enjoying the interaction. She has never seen her friend with an employee before.

"Sorry for that," Bonnibel apologized, "I'll persuade her for us to move to the next table. Sorry again," she looked at Keila who remained impassive, "for disturbing you both."

"Oh no," she waved her hand dismissively, "Stay here. It's fine." She smiled reassuringly, "It's also true that I haven't met Lumpy in a long time, I wanted to catch up."

Bonnibel hesitated but Marceline was quick to conform to her. "It's okay, I'm lucky that the boys aren't here," her boss reassured her. Bonnibel doesn't know about the last statement of her boss but the darkness in her boss' eyes meant a different thing. Marceline finished her cup of coffee and said, "I'm also going. I have to meet Dianne today," she checked her watch and let out a breath. Keila's eyebrows were raised, "I thought she's in Milan for a magazine shoot?"

Marceline frowned, "I thought so, too but she texted me this morning about her arrival today." Keila had no choice but to let her friend go, "Oh well, if it's Dianne then I guess it also involves your dad?"

"Yup," the raven haired woman responded, popping the _p_. Bonnibel was quick to stand up to let her boss out and took her bag (she'd ask Lady about _Dianne_ later), "I'm also going, I'll give you a ride." She said to her boss who was now standing next to her, "We used my car to drive us both here." She stated and Marceline puts both of her hands in her front pockets, "How about your friend?"

"Oh, I'll just tell her that my uncle called. She understands." She reasoned, she looked at Marceline's friend and saw her sending a suggestive look at Marceline who scowled at her. She decided to ignore it though.

"Very well," she then looked at her friend, "I better get going, Kei, sorry to cut our meeting short," she patted her friend on the shoulder who chuckled, "I'm used to it, Marce," she teased, "You take care." She winked. Marceline rolled her eyes and walked out.

"It was nice meeting you," she offered her hand at the pink haired beauty who unlocked her car using her key, (her car was just parked approximately outside where their table was) "Oh, same thing. "She shook hands with Keila.

She glanced at the window and saw Marceline getting inside the passenger seat, "I better get going then," with one final nod from Keila, she walked towards Lumpy who is now carrying both of their drinks. She took hers which was (the usual) strawberry shake and kissed her friend on the cheek, "I have to go, emergency. Uncle called. Bye!" she quickly went out and ran towards her car not hearing Lumpy whine when she took her drank.

By the time she was inside, a pop music was already playing and Marceline's eyes were closed.

She decided not to say anything and drove silently towards her place.


End file.
